Leicestershire's Louis Kimber on Wednesday made cricket history by scoring the most runs in an over in first-class cricket, hammering Sussex's Ollie Robinson for 43 runs in a County Championship match.
On the fourth and final day of their Division Two County Championship match, Sussex's Robinson conceded the most expensive over in the history of the County Championship to Kimber. The over saw Robinson being hit for 43 runs, a new record for the most runs scored in a single over of English first-class cricket. Robinson actually ended up bowling nine deliveries, three of them no-balls.
Kimber's feat is believed to be the most runs scored in one over in first-class cricket when there was no compliance from the bowler, such as bowling for a declaration. This surpasses the previous record of 38 runs, which was jointly held by Alex Tudor and Andrew Flintoff in 1998, and by Dan Lawrence off the bowling of Shoaib Bashir earlier this week.
Kimber’s astonishing knock reached 192 off just 95 balls by lunchtime, forming part of an eighth-wicket stand of 200 runs with Ben Cox. Leicestershire managed to score 236 runs from 29 overs in the morning session, but still needed 80 runs for victory with three wickets in hand.
This is how the over unfolded, ball by ball:
Ball 1: Kimber started the onslaught by pulling Robinson to backward square leg for six runs.
Ball 2: Robinson delivered a no-ball, which Kimber smashed for four to the same region, tallying seven runs for the delivery.
Ball 3: Kimber expertly guided a bouncer to third man for another four runs.
Ball 4: Kimber pulled another bouncer for six, sending the ball soaring over the backward square leg fielder's head.
Ball 5: A powerful swat to square leg resulted in another four runs.
Ball 6: Kimber cut the ball to the off-side boundary for a fourth four in the over, with an additional no-ball making it another six-run delivery, bringing up Kimber's century in a blaze of boundaries.
Ball 7: Kimber found a gap at mid-on for four more runs, though not with a full connection.
Ball 8: Another no-ball allowed Kimber to drive stylishly through cover for four, adding another six runs to the tally.
Ball 9: Finally, Kimber pulled the ball but could only manage a single, bringing the total to 43 runs from the over.
